August 2024 Photo Post: Luther Burbank Park

Luther Burbank Park, Continued Restoration Efforts

Squad had another great summer stewardship event at Luther Burbank Park with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. We worked closer to our usual restoration site near Calkins Point on Lake Washington adjacent to the big Oregon ash tree / Fraxinus latifolia. Some shade was enjoyed, despite staying out from under its limbs splayed out during storm damage last winter. The usual noxious weed suspects–blackberry, buttercup, stinky Bob and bindweed–were dug & pulled out from around the native plantings.

After lunch we formed a ‘fire line’ and moved a good deal of mulch! It was fun and the kids worked incredibly hard–certainly earning their swim afterwards. Mulch retains moisture, reduces weeds and provides organic matter to nourish the soil. The concrete stall remnants of the former dairy farm haven’t lost their charm and are always attractive for play. A terrific day!

Lake Washington Restoration on Mercer Island

Squad has worked at Luther Burbank Park for many summers with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust–almost always under the shade of a large Oregon Ash / Fraxinus latifolia–however this year we were surprised to find our special tree’s large limbs splayed apart at odd angles, reportedly from a lightening strike! Fortunately we had achieved a good deal of weeding over the years and the native plants under the ash are looking good overall and many areas show more wood chips than weeds.

We worked at a new location near the sculptural amphitheater-type area, digging out noxious blackberry, buttercup and pulling bindweed. Some shade was available below the old Lombardy poplars, but the lake was more than welcoming after some good shovel work. The quiet north end of the lake is shallow for some time and a real pleasure for taking a dip.

Lake Washington Stewardship at Luther Burbank Park With the MTSG

Squad had another great summer stewardship event at Luther Burbank Park with the Mountain to Sound Greenway Trust. The restoration work has been progressing over the years- continued efforts to remove noxious species will always be needed (birds will always drop blackberry and ivy seeds from berries via their droppings) but a significant plateau of sustainability has been reached in our primary work area under the big Oregon ash tree.

Our task consisted of filling buckets of wood chips and hauling them from the great mulch pile to the restoration site. We sheet mulched by overlapping cardboard and thickly covering it with wood chips to kill weeds and protect growing space for native plants.

Naturally we had a wonderful swim in Lake Washington afterwards!

Planting & Mulching at Luther Burbank Park With MTSGT

It is neat to work through all of the seasons at Luther Burbank Park with the Mountains to Sound Greenway, from summertime weeding to springtime mulching and autumn planting. We gazed longingly at Lake Washington thinking of our fun summertime swim-after-stewardship events.

In the meantime it was perfect cool, damp planting weather for putting natives in the ground at our longtime restoration site underneath the big Oregon ash tree / Fraxinus latifolia. This site used to be a dairy farm and the concrete stall remnants can still be seen and happily played upon.

The mulch pile was fantastically large and offered up much enjoyable work hauling it over to the planting area in buckets. Teams switched off filling, carrying and planting.

Photo by Greta Watters